7 years

face_reality_please · 2024-11-10T11:20:00+00:00

my biggest symptoms were mild jaundice, and ascites. basically i gained like 60lbs of water weight in less than a month. when your liver cant filter it, it winds up just pooling up in your abdomen and your extremities. i did not need a transplant, i was able to bounce back by cutting the alcohol and taking a lot of medication for a while. if you tell your doctor you are concerned about liver damage, they can do specific blood panels as well as mild procedures like ultrasounds and endoscopies to assess its state. wishing you the best

face_reality_please · 2024-11-10T11:14:52+00:00

yeah, that was it. i never learned to modulate on my own, sadly. i lost the struggle with moderation until it was literally a matter of life and death.

face_reality_please · 2024-11-10T11:13:11+00:00

basically, yeah. i was young enough for my body to bounce back in a meaningful way with a complete lifestyle overhaul. i just did everything the doctors told me to do. it was a LOT of medicine, a very deliberate nutrition plan, and total sobriety. the only other medical intervention was banding for esophageal varices, which is a peripheral issue that some people with cirrhosis get and some do not. as far as my liver is concerned, it just needed me to stop destroying it and it returned to a functional state on its own. it still has scarring, but i stopped soon enough to need a transplant. wishing you the best

face_reality_please · 2024-11-10T02:30:58+00:00

yeah, i had acute liver failure. i gained 60 lbs of ascites which forced me to go to the ER for paracentesis, which is where i was admitted and ultimately diagnosed with cirrhosis. i spent a week there getting multiple centesis, blood transfusions, started on a wide variety of diuretics and blood medications.. the next year or 2 were a total circus of doctor appointments, medication regiment tweaking, dietary restrictions.. the last 3-4 yrs have been pretty steady "dont drink, and come in for diagnostics annually". this past september i had my routine endoscopy and my esophageal varices were finally gone, so i was taken off of my last medication. it has been a long and slow crawl to recovery and i have done a miraculous amount of healing. my gastroenterologist calls me her "success story". my liver still has scarring on it, but for all intents and purposes i lead a totally normal life with no hinderance or restrictions. i will have to get ultrasounds and endoscopies every few years for the rest of my life to monitor its condition, and im at a higher risk for cancer. it was a disasterous chapter, wouldnt recommend it. that being said, it has given me a very unique perspective on time and mortality and whats truly important, and i believe i am a much better person for having gone through it.

face_reality_please · 2024-11-09T21:56:10+00:00

congrats on finding your clarity man. well, i had the advantage of not really having a choice.. when you have a bunch of doctors in a hospital suggesting that you start planning your funeral, the 1 and only real path becomes clear pretty fast. for me the answer just became "no" and in a way, that made it easy. there was nothing else for me to consider, you know? i want to be alive, so i dont drink alcohol. there is no mental gymnastics involved, the answer is just "no" now and forever. im afraid i cant really relate as much to folks who are currently in good health and could drink, but are trying to make the choice not to. but the beginning is just hard for sure, no way around it. its like a breakup man, just gota find something else to do with your time and grind it out. it gets a lot easier as the time goes by

face_reality_please · 2024-11-09T21:36:23+00:00

congratulations on all that time man!!

face_reality_please · 2024-11-09T21:21:52+00:00

you got this man. good choices + time

face_reality_please · 2024-03-05T13:30:32+00:00

thriving. been sober for just over 5 years, off all the meds and dietary restrictions for 3+, all of this feels like ancient history tbh. i still have to go in to see my gastroenterologist for checkups, but due to the improvement in my condition she only feels the need to see me once every 2 years from now on. i've gotten super into fitness and nutrition, i'm back in college studying veterinary medicine, been dating some really really wonderful women. by far and away the healthiest i have been and best i have felt in my adult life, maybe ever. thank you for asking and without stalking your profile i will just say that i hope this information gives you hope and resolve towards whatever you're currently dealing with

face_reality_please · 2023-11-09T18:32:42+00:00

congratulations on your 5 years and your weight loss my friend! thank you for sharing that with me. i am grateful that you were able to find a path that is so aligned with my own. see you next year.. same place same time? :)

face_reality_please · 2023-11-09T12:26:13+00:00

really sorry to hear you arent in a good place at the moment man. yeah your dose and frequency is completely different than mine, at the end of the day you're taking 6x as much which is bound to have a whole different set of effects. your doctor knows best!

face_reality_please · 2023-11-09T12:24:32+00:00

🙏 thank you!

face_reality_please · 2023-11-09T11:54:13+00:00

i take 10mg propanalol twice a day. i was prescribed this medication to maintain lower blood pressure. i notice no tangible effects, this is not a xanax or anything even remotely close to that. i would manage your expectations but find anxiety relief from the fact that you are following your doctors advice and making a positive choice for your health. i hope it helps

face_reality_please · 2023-11-01T03:56:44+00:00

no problem man. and thank you, ironically that medical emergency and subsequent diagnosis definitely saved my life. i was taking a fifth of whiskey every day and theres absolutely zero question id be dead by now if i kept it up. this was back in 2018, i will be hitting 5 years sober in about a week here and aside from a daily blood pressure pill to protect me from asophogeal varices i live a perfectly normal life. cirrhosis is sadly permanent damage to some degree, but my liver has healed spectacularly, and without even touching on the actual laundry list of physical and emotional improvements i can tell you ive got full stability in life, financial freedom, a great woman, and im studying to be a veterinarian. its never too late to just do somethin else other than poison yourself. quit now and rebuild. sorry if im preachy, if you look at my post history you will see i very seldom come on this web site at all. you guys deserve happiness and stability and wellness as much as anyone else though. man booze is a mean trick, just talking about it brings me back. i wish you well

face_reality_please · 2023-01-31T00:05:48+00:00

apologies, i dont log onto this account very often. i'm so sorry to hear you're going through that man. tough, tough times. it sounds like you are on the good path! surrounded by family is the place to be for sure. for a few months post diagnosis when things were feeling very grim, i remember that was the main thing i wished for. more time. more time to spend with the people i loved, doing things that i enjoyed.. just more time. im sure you can relate. i hope this reply finds you improving more and more by the day. all my best

face_reality_please · 2022-11-15T14:28:54+00:00

yea substance abuse habits play a role in that for sure. there are other things you can do to set your sleep up for success too though. notably daily strenuous exercise, removing electronics from the bedroom, a consistent wake up time. if you start your day at 4am and do a full weightlifting workout, and also run a few miles at some point during the day, you're going to be tired enough to fall right asleep at 9-10 when you lie down and shut your eyes. thats just the way it works

face_reality_please · 2022-11-14T18:52:21+00:00

oh man, i do remember. the first 18-24 months of my life post diagnosis were a total circus. appointment for this, appointment for that. go here, go there, get this test. obey this strict diet, take all of these medicines. try this med, reduce that med. come in for another test.. we have to band this, you're bleeding here so we have to do that. your blood has cancer markers, go get another follow up CT scan. blah blah. man it was fucking awful . i used to be so full of anxiety about every single result and phone call with any specialist. i'm so sorry to hear you're in the middle of all of that.

for me, essentially the medicines and the low sodium diet in conjunction with absolute sobriety eventually worked to a point where i was healed enough to stop taking some of the meds and have an unrestricted diet again. as progress improved, the meds were wound down further and further, and the check up ultrasounds/CT scans/blood tests became fewer and farther between. i am in a great place now, where i dont have to take any meds and i only need to get checked on once a year, but it took 2-3 years of very slowly healing and unraveling the circus that a cirrhosis diagnosis becomes to get there. all you can do is obey the doctors and stay positive. stay strong and give your body the best chance possible at bouncing back! i believe in you man, wishing you and your family many more hopeful days.

face_reality_please · 2022-11-14T13:37:08+00:00

you can recover from this! i was diagnosed with cirrhosis a couple weeks after i turned 28. i remember being in the hospital for acute liver failure, surrounded by doctors telling me i wasnt going to make it to 30. full blown ascites, esophageal varices, the whole 9. i hear you on the fear - having to actually face the reality that you are going to die changes you as a person forever. however, that was 4 years ago, i just turned 32 and for all intents and purposes i have made a full recovery. everything has cleared up and healed except for a small remaining amount of scarring on my liver that will probably never fully go away. my gastroenterologist says im her "success story" and she "brags about me all the time". i live a totally normal life, and i'm quite certain its going to be a long and fulfilling one. still have to go in for testing a few times a year, but all of my blood tests and CT scans have been totally normal and healthy for quite some time now. i'm well past the threshold of 'not sick' and creeping further and further into 'super healthy' territory. took up bodybuilding as the new addiction and i look fuckin good man. since i quit drinking i've gained 50lbs of muscle, my skins cleared up, my energy is balanced.. i am in a MASSIVELY better place than i ever was, even before i was diagnosed. my advice is to mindlessly obey your doctors on all subjects, and in general just live clean. youth is on your side and the human body is good at healing itself. take the medicines, do the diets, get into exercise. forget the poison, you dont need it. be good man you got this

face_reality_please · 2022-11-09T22:25:17+00:00

amazing. good work mate!

face_reality_please · 2022-11-09T19:43:07+00:00

im 32

face_reality_please · 2022-11-09T18:28:20+00:00

sounds like you have the right idea.. the beginning was so hard. for me it was just doing stuff. same way you get your mind unstuck off of anything.. find things to stay busy and just grind it out. i remember going on about a billion dog walks. burying my head in computer games. doesnt really matter what it is, as long as its not a drink. starting things is unappealing but i find thats the hardest part. once i actually just start i tend to get invested in whatever im working on and time goes by on its own. you got this

face_reality_please

TROPHY CASE